While it might not seem like much, he ensured people would be able to have genuine quality baked good rather than having nothing but ai-made garbage.
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What's the Work?[]
The Last Bakery is a Genshin Impact fan animation from Dillongoo made for Hoyofair. Set in a timeline that mixes Genshin lore with some futuristic elements, all human bakeries have been shut down with Mecha running everything (Because AI ruins everything)... however, one human bakery still stands, but barely. In this universe, Spina Di Rosula is a bakery rather than a peace keeping organization, with Navia and Xiangling running the joint. However, they are not in a financially good situation and need to win a contest for prize money, or their bakery will close down too.
Who is Neuvillette? What Does He Do?[]
Neuvillette serves as the judge of the bakery competition. He is also known in Fontaine as the Iudex. Needless to say he is definitely powerful. He is the one managing the contest. and it is important to note that the prize for this contest is 10 million mora. However, he does have a suspicion of foul play among the contestants. With no proof of such though, he can't act. He and Officer Clorinde were both weary though and made sure to keep monitor. Until then, the competition went as normal with Neuvillette visiting each bakery to provide his judgement.
He soon reaches the bakery, Spina Di Rosula, the only bakery that is still human-run. He is attracted by Xiangling's robot companion Guaba. With all the cheap goods the Mechas have served him, Neuvillette felt a human-run bakery would be a nice change of pace. However (due to the bakers being distracted by an attacking Mecha), there doesn't seem to be anybody inside. Neuvillette begins to assume they closed up early. Fortunately, Xiangling is able to catch him to let him know that they are open while leaving Guoba to keep him entertained.
However, their Juyun Chili dish has been ruined by the Meka, prompting them to come up with a new dish using Romaritimes. However, the Mecha wasn't done, it continued to attack the girls, even being prepared to kill them for their dish. The commotion alert Neuvillette who deems it necessary to check in on the chef. The moment he walks into the kitchen, he witnesses the fight going on with the Meka still trying to get its hands on Navia's treat. Seeing this attack, Neuvillette knew he had to intervene, using his powers to flood the kitchen.
He lets the girls know he is sorry for having to take such measures. However, now that he has proof that the Mekas were engaging in sabotage, it meant that all the work put into the competition had been compromised. He knew that under these circumstances, a winner can't be determined. This unfortunately meant no prize money for anybody. Before he leaves though, he does take a moment to try Navia's dish which came out of the ordeal undamaged (if a little wet). The cake is so good that it moves Neuvillette to tears. He feels the cake could have potentially won had it been a fair competition, letting Navia know her father should be proud of her.
Fortunately, Neuvillette does find a loophole. Turns out, Xiangling filed for flood insurance, and since Neuvillette was the one responsible for the flooding, he acted as the signed witness. He even made sure that the money provided for the insurance was ten million mora, which was more than enough to save Spina Di Rosula and help Navia and Xiangling pay rent to serve human-made cakes to everbody, making the Blooming Romaritime Cake their top selling treat.
Admirable Standards[]
Since this is a fanwork and not part of Genshin canon, Neuvillette does not need to compare to any of the heavy hitters (though he himself is a heavy hitter canonically anyway, but canon Neuvillette can't be PG due to a few corrupting factors). When it comes down to it, Neuvillette wanted to ensure the integrity of the competition was fair and impartial with no favoritism. In fact, he reveals to have had Clorinde investigate the Mekas for possible foul play on the suspicion that they were cheating. The moment he witnessed proof, he cancelled the contest as he makes it clear that to declare a winner in such circumstances would be dishonest, even if the winner was somebody who didn't cheat (since there were other contestants who likely played fair only to have their chances ruined by those cheating).
Not just that, but he also goes the extra mile by finding an alternative way to give Navia the money to save her bakery via the flood insurance Xiangling filed for. And when it comes down to it, Neuvillette did save their lives from the Mecha attacking them (as it was made clear the Meka wasn't just trying to ruin their work, but was actively trying to kill them too). Not only that, but his decision to provide them ten million through flood insurance ensured they were able to stay in business and provide their new cake to others.
I'm sure some might say that him saving a bakery from going down isn't exactly admirable enough, but keep in mind that in this universe, Spina Di Rosula is the only actual human bakery still around with all other bakeries being controlled by the Meka, and if the actions of the Meka are any indication, they wanted to shut that bakery down to have a monopoly. Neuvillette's actions effectively prevented bakeries from being fully monopolized by AI. He didn't just save Spina Di Rosula. He saved the baking industry. As such, I'd say Neuvillette is very much admirable here.
Mitigating Factors[]
Now an important thing to note is that while Neuvillette cancels the competition, his decision is very much justified. After all, his statements make it clear that Navia and Xiangling weren't the only ones who were victims of the Mekas' sabotage, and discovering this brought the honesty of the competition into question. He knew that he couldn't declare a winner regardless of whether or not they played fair. At the very least, he understood that Navia was honest to the point of letting her know she likely would have won if the contest had been handled better.
There's also the matter of how he saved Navia and Xiangling by flooding their kitchen. However, this also ended up being necessary to diffuse the situation, and he is quick to apologize for it. He even makes it up to Navia by providing her the prize money through flood insurance.
And since this isn't part of Genshin canon, we don't need to worry about any of the corrupting factors that he displays there such as his obsessive desire to deliver judgement to the Archons as they are not ever touched upon here, with nothing to indicate that they apply.
Verdict[]
I say yes to this honest judge.