Trust was touching, but you still couldn't help indulging in a few happy fantasies, could you?
Chief Yuan's reaction didn't surprise Fu Qian in the least.
When the meteor shower crashed into the academy, hadn't he been just as shocked when he saw it?
Perhaps she didn't doubt that he had indeed seen the crude Ragdoll in the Western Plains, or that Kelin had treated Wen Li rather unusually.
But the one who had rushed to Shangjing to probe the situation was another mysterious Second Order.
Even the tracking mark that came later had landed somewhere that seemed completely unrelated.
Yuan Shan didn't want the Night Watchers to suffer any serious internal problems, so it was only natural that she'd begun entertaining some slightly optimistic fantasies about the situation.
For instance, perhaps Kelin had indeed been involved in what happened in the Western Plains, but there might have been some other explanation.
In fact, even he, who had been personally involved in almost all of these events, couldn't produce conclusive evidence to disprove that theory.
"Yes, they're connected."
Fu Qian nodded without hesitation.
Why deny it?
Even if Chief Yuan clung to a few happy fantasies, would that affect what she did next?
"...But you can't prove it, either?"
"Do I need to?"
After that brief exchange, Yuan Shan fell silent for a moment.
"You're right. I don't."
But she soon patted her head and shook it with genuine helplessness.
"Until I can prove she's innocent, what I need to do won't change at all."
Though she looked troubled, Chief Yuan showed a measure of openness as she honestly summed up her situation.
That was the benefit of dealing with smart people: you didn't have to spend much effort spelling out the stakes.
The reason Chief Yuan's happy fantasies