Wriothesley

One thing that comes as a relief to the Prosecutor's Office is that most of the citizens of Fontaine Court are law-abiding, so they hardly have to deal with anything related to Fort Meropide. But there is also a logical and sad fact at the same time: that those who serve their sentences there find it difficult to reintegrate into the society on the surface - also called "Aguarriba" in the jargon of the prisoners - and rarely talk about their experience in Aguabajo.

More than a specific place, Fort Merópide is a kind of concept that is very present in the discourse of the people of Fontaine as a symbol of warning, misfortune or punishment, and it is not important to know who governs the place from which this concept comes.

However, thanks to this, Wriothesley can be like a hermit living in Fontaine a life that is not at all in keeping with his status as a duke.

While people are saying things like, “If you give me trouble again, I’ll punch you to Fort Meropide” or “This is a horrible thing to do. I’d rather be tightening screws at the bottom of the sea,” the warden of this submarine fort is on his way to a café to order some sweets to go.

Wriothesley uses the tall male model. He has a black coat with black fur, silver cuffs on his belt, grey trousers with a small button on each side and a silver rhombus on it, long black boots, he wears a crimson grey-brown jacket in the front with rhombus-shaped buttons that have a darker colour in the middle and the sleeves of the jacket are rolled up with two buttons of the same rhombus shape, only now the button is gold and the middle one is painted red. He has black bandages on his hands that don't reach his fingers, all of his fingers have silver rings on them and he wears a silver wolf-shaped brooch on his left hand. He has a scar under his eye and he also has a scar on his neck with a black bandage on it. His hair is black with grey streaks and his eyes are light blue.

Wriothesley is the Duke of Fort Meropide, serving as the prison's administrator and overseeing the general state of the facility. Despite his appearance, Wriothesley is rather calm and collected, not caring too much about the prison's infamous reputation, as he only sees himself as a sort of "leader" who oversees the population and ensures that they have the "tranquility" they desire. Wriothesley does not hold much of a grudge against Neuvillette and is willing to work with him to maintain law and order in the prison. He is well respected both inside and outside the prison, having been one of the few individuals to be granted a noble title by Mermonia Palace, something that is considered rare and a privilege in Fontanese society.

Outside of his duties, he likes to drink tea.

Wriothesley rarely leaves Fort Meropide. Having personally built up a whole network of contacts and information, he simply sits in his office and waits for the information he needs to come to him. However, if there's one thing he understands, it's that he can't spend all day in his office working flat out. Otherwise, he'd either never sleep, or sooner or later he'd sink into an eternal underwater slumber.

To govern the Fort more easily, he needs to think about the two most important things: money and people.

Fortunately, Fort Meropide functions like a giant factory, and Wriothesley is quite adept at making money, so much so that even Mermonia Palace is a client. In reality, he doesn't give this client special treatment because he craves more power, since the Fontaine authorities can't interfere in Fort Meropide's affairs; he simply wants the Mora, and the more the better. Therefore, even though the Administrative Office is incredibly strict with bureaucratic work, Wriothesley has always fulfilled every request.

The massive demand for argium as a research material by the Fontaine Institute for Scientific Research and Engineering of Kinetic Energy could have rivaled the Mermonia Palace, but the Institute was ruled out as a partner after it became mere floating ruins. It remains to be seen whether fate will bring them together again in the future.

The most common mistake wealthy people make is overestimating the power of money and believing themselves superior to others. Another fortunate fact for Wriothesley is that he wasn't born rich, so he understands the importance of being kind to others.

Whether they are an inmate, a warden, or an employee, as long as they do their duty, he treats all people at Fort Meropide the same and is rarely harsh with them.

On the other hand, if someone dares to meddle in a matter that goes beyond their responsibilities, then that's a different story. Aguabajo is a relatively isolated place, and since most people have nowhere else to go, they have no choice but to stay there. Wriothesley appeals to people's common sense, but if words don't work, then he has to take other measures.

In fact, sometimes it's even better to ignore the inevitable arguments and trivialities that often arise between people. Intelligent people know it's never a good idea to make a scene, and for foolish people, there's always somewhere else to go. In the end, people are like water: they purify themselves.

To date, Wriothesley has never worked himself to exhaustion and, in fact, even manages to carve out free time.

Once, Clorinde, the executioner of justice famous throughout Fontaine, visited the Fort and asked him: “Why do I have the feeling that you have even more free time than I do? Did you buy your title of duke or what?”

“Just a moment, please,” said Wriothesley when he saw they were questioning him. Then he started rummaging through three drawers, pulled out some incredibly thick documents, and replied, “Let’s see… 'For your excellent management skills… and your impeccable tax payment record… we hereby award you this title'… Well, well, who would have thought? You might even be right!”

At Fontaine, where impartiality and self-sacrifice reign supreme, no title can be bought with money. Wriothesley and Clorinde were only teasing each other in that conversation they had during a break from tedious work. However, although he did not buy the title of “duke”, Wriothesley's appointment as warden of Fort Meropide did have something to do with “money”.

The currency used in the Fort is Credit Coupons, which are used to make transactions. Things have been like this for a long time, it's just that there are many versions to explain the origin. When Wriothesley was still an inmate at the Fort, Coupons could be exchanged more freely and more things could be purchased with them than now. As long as you had enough of them, you could buy unhealthy drugs, 100% accurate betting predictions, indecisive people, and even the right to breathe.

These were all illegal transactions, but the legal ones were not free of scandal either: if you had no contacts, you could only buy water and food in the canteen at exorbitant prices, and what was written on the lucky slips were not mystical proverbs, but real, additional work that had to be completed on the same day. More than money, the Credit Coupons of that time were the tool with which the former warden controlled the inmates.

Sure, making rule-breakers fight each other in the midst of chaos sounds like a good method of control, but Wriothesley didn't agree. He could fight to survive as long as the environment was right, but if it wasn't, he wouldn't sit back.

He spent a lot of time gathering funds in the underground boxing arena, funds which he later used to buy more money. He was good at observing and persuading others, as well as keeping a low profile, so before many people realized, he had more Coupons created

However, ancient authors say that everything has its rise and fall, since nothing is eternal.” To rid himself of the Fatui spies, Wriothesley swam around Fort Meropide. Although he wasn't in the water for long, he noticed his skin was slightly reddened when he got out, but it soon returned to normal. He didn't go to the infirmary to be examined, nor did he intend to tell anyone. Everything that had happened in recent years was proof that the prophecy was being fulfilled step by step, and everyone, whether they believed in it or not, had their own opinion and didn't need that information.

At Fort Meropide, he knew a few historian prisoners, and although they weren't many, they talked nonsense even when they were lucid. They asked the Duke not to take it too seriously, as it was a problem that afflicted all researchers in that discipline. Obviously, Wriothesley didn't care how they expressed themselves, as what interested him were their hypotheses. According to some, if rise and fall are inherent to this world, then the sea that swallowed Remuria would also one day return. If so, the prophecy would cease to be a prophecy and become a reality.

As with many other things, Wriothesley had to see something to truly believe it. For example, when mediation was required at Fort Meropis, the testimonies of those who had witnessed the scene were always different, which is why he always reserved his opinion on past events, and that of course included historical facts, which were often exaggerated to seem more epic. For instance, in the phrase "Even the great dragon of the abyssal depths submitted to his power" from the book "The Fall of Remuria," that "dragon" could simply have been a gigantic Dragarto.