Hearing Lyney's answer, Paimon was somewhat enlightened for a moment, then gently nodded her small head and asked in return:
"Is that why it has to be one minute?"
"Yes, it takes about seventy-five seconds for the audience to count sixty seconds, and I only need fifteen seconds to enter the box opposite."
"So after jumping into the tunnel, I used the ventilation shaft to reach the underground of the Opera House and went to the core to investigate."
"That ventilation shaft was modified during the construction of the underground passage specifically for this step."
Hearing this, Lumine fell into deep thought, and only slowly raised her head after a long while.
"What's important isn't that, but what you found out. What was in that room?"
Lyney shook his head regretfully.
"Nothing at all, because after I arrived in that room and was about to start investigating, I suddenly heard a human voice."
"This was too bizarre. I was absolutely certain that I should have been the only one in that room at the time, and it was impossible for anyone else to appear."
"That voice seemed to recognize me and tried to speak to me, and I... out of caution, had to give up the investigation and return the way I came."
"After returning, I saw the vase broken and clothes on the ground, but I had very little time left and couldn't think too much about it."
"After that, the murder happened, and everything else was as you saw it."
Hearing this, Lumine posed another question.
"Why do you want to know the principle of the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale?"
In Lumine's anticipation, the people of Fontaine already had knowledge of such things, so saying that 'the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale has self-awareness' was like a normal meme, similar to 'humans need to eat'.
Under normal circumstances... no one would actively explore 'why do humans need to eat', and the solution to such questions often emerges with other inventions and discoveries.
And this was the only remaining doubt Lumine had now.
Hearing Lumine's words, Lyney continued without hesitation:
"Of course, it's for The Prophecy. To deal with 'The Prophecy Crisis', we need to know all the secrets of this country."
"Only then, without any information asymmetry, can we know how to save everyone."
"...These are all the truths. I swear, I haven't hidden anything else."
"It was truly not my intention for us to be in this situation of lost trust."
"But as I said, it's up to you to judge. Even if you leave directly due to distrust of the Fatui, there's nothing that can be done."
Hearing this, Lumine fell into deep thought, then gently nodded.
The moment Lyney mentioned 'The Prophecy Crisis', she thought of someone, and that person had said similar things to her just yesterday.
—Fontaine Vice-Minister, Yuto.
She didn't believe The Prophecy was baseless, nor did she believe that a broken vase and water stains would inexplicably appear in a tunnel.
All these things, in her view, were suspicious, so...
Lumine looked up at the two people in front of her and said softly:
"I choose to believe the facts."
"If it's you, Judgment will come as scheduled; if it's not you, I will help you clear your name."
Hearing this, Paimon became excited. She looked at Lumine beside her and waved her small hands, saying:
"Then it's settled. Now what we need to do is... refute the Water God's accusations to find the truth in the upcoming Judgment process."
In response, Lumine gently shook her head, a confident smile appearing on her face.
"The key evidence is already here..."
"Eh?"
"The recess is almost over, let's go back first."
"Alright... I think I know what you're talking about."
Paimon said, waving her small hands.
...
By the time Lumine and the others returned to the Judgment seat, Mr. Neuvillette, who had been sitting upright in his chair, now stood up and slowly began to speak:
"Since both parties have returned to their positions, our Judgment will continue."
"Before the recess, Mr. Lyney agreed that the new evidence presented by Ms. Furina was all factual, so Ms. Furina, please tell us the truth of the case."
Hearing Mr. Neuvillette's words, Ms. Furina nodded excitedly.
"It's worth the wait. Come on, everyone, please listen carefully."
"At this stage, we will only reconstruct the entire event from Lyney's perspective!"
Speaking of this, Ms. Furina cleared her throat, her expression becoming somewhat serious, then she slowly began:
"First, as soon as the audience's countdown began, Lyney entered the tunnel."
"When the flatbed cart passed, he opened the box and got entangled with Heirsee, causing that dull thud."
"He didn't realize the sound would be loud enough for the entire Opera House to hear, so he deliberately said 'didn't hear any sound' during the previous questioning."
"Finally, Lyney knocked out Heirsee with a vase, and to prevent her from being recognized, he took off her outer coat."
"And precisely at this moment, Cowell heard the commotion in the tunnel, so he came down to check the situation and encountered Lyney in the act of committing the crime."
"Finally... Lyney then knocked out Cowell, put him into the magic box, then handed Heirsee to his accomplice through the magic box in the audience, and then manipulated the mechanism to make Cowell die by accident."
"And this is the full picture of the event."
After Ms. Furina's statement, the Opera House fell into a brief silence, followed by bursts of cheers.
"As expected of Ms. Furina, as expected of the God representing justice! She easily saw through the Fatui's conspiracy!"
"Exactly! Exactly! I happened to be at the magic show yesterday! Lady Furina's every word was a pearl of wisdom, directly seeing through all of this Fatui's schemes!"
Unbeknownst to them, the audience's perception of Lyney had already shifted from 'Great Magician' to 'unforgivable' Fatui.
Listening to the audience's rejection of him, Lyney gently clenched his fist, then turned his gaze to Lumine beside him.
"Please."
Lumine nodded gently at his words. She looked up at Mr. Neuvillette, who stood in a high position, and said softly:
"Mr. Neuvillette, before we begin the rebuttal... I hope the Fontaine police can search Cowell, the deceased's personal belongings."
"Of course, before the Fontaine police return..."
"I will completely overturn Ms. Furina's so-called facts."