Hearing this, Mr. Neuvillette turned his head and looked at the incessantly falling rain outside the window, saying nothing.
Mr. Yuto, who had been with Mr. Neuvillette for nearly five hundred years, naturally understood what he was thinking when he saw him like this.
"Neuvillette, I know you're not good at expressing emotions, and I know you really wish the showers in Fontaine would stop, but…"
Mr. Yuto walked over to Mr. Neuvillette as he spoke, looking at the pouring rain outside the window with him, and after a soft sigh, said:
"But if you want the showers to stop, then the rain in your heart must stop first."
Hearing Mr. Yuto's words, Mr. Neuvillette fell silent.
He understood, but he was not human; sometimes he couldn't figure out what the resonance generated by these emotions meant.
He was not human, he found it difficult to understand this emotional resonance, and he also found it difficult to express his emotions like an ordinary person.
Just like before, the regret and disappointment in Navia's words resonated with him, and coupled with being a firsthand witness to that event… he naturally "resonated" with the emotion of "regret."
Logically speaking… as long as there is "resonance," emotions should naturally be expressed.
But because Mr. Neuvillette's essence was not human, this logic did not apply to him.
He didn't understand why he had such emotional resonances, and naturally, he didn't understand what kind of emotions or expressions he should use to express his "resonance."
After such a situation persisted for a long time… he naturally gave up on expressing his emotions.
Unlike Cares's "abandonment of expression" out of protection for his family, Mr. Neuvillette gave up because he couldn't articulate it more specifically.
Thinking of this, Mr. Yuto sighed slightly.
"Neuvillette, your justice influences Fontaine's judicial system, affecting everyone in Fontaine, to the extent that you have become the embodiment of justice. You must have heard this from Lyney at the time."
Mr. Yuto said softly.
Hearing this, Mr. Neuvillette nodded slightly, saying nothing.
Four hundred years, nearly five hundred years, of working together made him very familiar with the way his colleague spoke.
In such matters, speaking half and leaving half unsaid was his unique speaking style.
After a brief moment of thought, Mr. Yuto continued:
"Have you ever thought… that while you are influencing the people of Fontaine's definition of 'justice,' you are also being subtly influenced by one case after another?"
"Think about it, Neuvillette, four hundred years ago, would you have been angry that Vaughn was dissolved on the spot? Would you have said, 'Utterly arrogant'?"
"Cares's case… would you have fallen silent as you did back then, refusing to express your stance?"
"..."
Hearing Mr. Yuto's words, Mr. Neuvillette fell silent.
Mr. Yuto was right.
When he first sat on the Judgment seat above the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale, he wouldn't have had so many emotions.
Because at that time, he was still in the stage of trying to figure out the relationship between himself and humans, so naturally, he wouldn't have such emotions.
He had represented "justice" for a full five hundred years, and those Judgments had indeed subtly influenced him, just as Mr. Yuto said.
Watching the tall figure before him fall silent, Mr. Yuto nodded gently, then struck while the iron was hot, saying:
"Neuvillette, perhaps what you need to figure out now is not some connection, nor the difference between yourself and humans, but…"
"First, use these five hundred years of 'accumulation' to stop the rain in your heart, so that the showers… can stop, just as Carol and Watlin hoped."
Hearing Mr. Yuto mention these two names, Mr. Neuvillette paused slightly, then lowered his head in contemplation, and after a long while, he slowly said:
"Thank you, Mr. Yuto, I will consider it."
To this, Mr. Yuto shrugged, seemingly indifferent, as if he had only done something of no great importance.
"No matter, these are just some suggestions I offered you as a colleague, as… a friend, that's all."
With that, Mr. Yuto gently tapped the ground with his cane, then unhurriedly walked towards the office door.
Mr. Neuvillette nodded at his words, then, as if suddenly remembering something, asked:
"Then… have you found your 'essence'?"
Hearing Mr. Neuvillette's question, Mr. Yuto's gradually receding footsteps suddenly stopped. After a long silence, he gave a bitter smile and then said:
"My essence? I don't know; to this day, I still don't know what I am."
"Human? How can a human live five hundred years without aging? But… even the esteemed Water Elemental Dragon King cannot see through my essence, so I won't hope to figure that out."
"Sorry…"
"No need to apologize, Neuvillette. Given our relationship, we don't need to be so distant."
Having said this, Mr. Yuto was about to continue his steps to leave, but… he seemed to suddenly realize something and continued:
"I am different from you, Mr. Neuvillette."
"To this day, all my emotional understanding of humans is based entirely on my small cake shop."
"Although that cake shop disappeared long ago in history, those ten-plus years taught me so much, making me clearly realize what a 'human' truly is."
"If I were to be used as the main content for comparison… I'm afraid no results would be obtained."
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now, Mr. Neuvillette."
Mr. Yuto said, then left the office without looking back.
Mr. Neuvillette, meanwhile, looked at the gradually receding figure and sighed softly, murmuring:
"Perhaps… I can know your 'essence,' but…"
Mr. Neuvillette murmured this while looking at the gradually ceasing rain outside, sighing once more.
"I wonder how long this 'possibility' will take."
...
Mr. Yuto didn't know what Mr. Neuvillette was muttering behind him.
He just felt exceptionally tired now.
Today, he had to work overtime to revise documents, soothe Navia and Mr. Neuvillette, and also rack his brains thinking about how to accompany Furina so she could have a beautiful curtain call in the end.
"It really is… tiring just thinking about it."
Mr. Yuto sighed faintly, then, as if exhausted, lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
However… a light curtain appeared before him without warning.