As Casmir looked over at Bluefire for an explanation on what to do next following the announcement from the black crystal. Behind the black glass screen, in a very large and grandiose hall, a variety of different people were assembling in an organised fashion.
These people all held various positions across Ellaris city, some were business men, others civil leaders and some were even people that represented the dwindling school district.
They shuffled into the hall taking up the finely crafted wooden seats that were arranged in a semi-circular arrangement, they were distributed with a large raised area at their centre that held a smaller amount of clearly more important seats behind sturdy wooden desks.
The people filling the hall were separated into notable groups, there were guards, councillors and their advisors and no small amount of lower officials here to keep record of the hearing for their superiors.
Among the councillors themselves were smaller groups that slowly formed over time, as councillors with similar backgrounds or political and social standings congregated together. It only took ten minutes for the hundred or so councillors, and their advisors, to separate into a dozen or so groups that clearly maintained a slight distance from one another.
After the councillors had settled down, a much smaller precession of people entered the hall, all of whom gave off much deeper and more notable auras. Each of them gave their observers a different impression, whether that be through the strength of their cultivation, the wisdom in their eyes or even the sly smiles that hung on their faces.
This precession of notable individuals made their way to the raised seating area where they all sat down in their designated positions, waiting for the Hearing to begin.
Finally a small group entered the hall with a tall Elemental at their head, this Elemental's aura was both gently and powerful. His appearance was that of a stern old man with a thick long beard worthy of any mysterious experts praise.
Oddly, although his cultivation was clearly not the strongest here, being that of a Qi Grade 6 cultivator, everyone in the hall looked at him with a respectful look.
The old Elemental then made his way to the raised platform -the small group following him waiting below- and sat in the centre seat of the hall before he waved his arm towards the guards at the entrances.
The Council Hall's entrances were quickly shut and locked by the guards before the old Elemental spoke.
"I, Council Speaker Blackfire, will preside over this hearing. Please open all viewing rooms to the hall and take your seats." He said in a calm but powerful voice that held a strange persuasive power to it.
Speaker Blackfire then looked at one of the men who followed him into the hall.
"Official Kane, please begin the proceedings." He said calmly before leaning back into his chair.
If all went well with the hearing, Speaker Blackfire would never need to speak another word. Of course, such a clean, well-mannered hearing had never been witnessed by him in the 100 years he had been Speaker...
==========
Back in the viewing room that Casmir and Bluefire were waiting in, Casmir stood before the pedestal facing the tinted black window as it suddenly cleared, the large council hall appearing before them. The room they were in was a least one floor higher than the council hall floor which gave them a raised view point over the hall.
Casmir was slightly shocked by the appearance of the hall but only because of its size and grandeur that put the well decorated dining hall he had passed through earlier, to shame.
It had been 15 minutes since the black crystal spoke to them. During the time that the council hall was filled, Bluefire had explained the situation to Casmir and what was needed of him.
Firstly he confirmed his identity by injecting a small amount of his Soul Energy into the black crystal in front of him, this was standard procedure and for those without Soul Energy, Qi energy or blood was used.
As for how the confirmation of his identity worked, Bluefire didn't say, but she did explain that the tinted window in front of them was a one way mirror, specially designed to block probing from Qi energy.
It was used to protect the witnesses identity while allowing them to take part in the hearing.
If Casmir ever needed to speak he could use the black crystal in front of him, only when it lit up could the council hall hear a distorted version of his voice.
Casmir watched as in the Hall, Official Kane began the proceedings.
"Councillors. Today we are here to address the troubling situation that developed at Wilderness Guard camp 13 and the surrounding wilderness. My subordinates are handing out a full write up of events up to the present, only excluding information of a sensitive nature."
"Today's events involved a group of foreign nationals who have been on a religious mission to spread the Truth Religion into parts of the Heldan Republic. Their origin is naturally the Ariel Kingdom to the far North which is currently embroiled in a minor civil war. This group was involved in an attack involving a Grade 6 Shadow Wolf that wiped out Wilderness Guard camp 13."
Hearing this, many councillors brows furrowed in anger, disapproval or simple annoyance. A few more 'in the know' individuals locked their eyes onto a minor figure in the council hall, one which represented the Feniss Farming Initiative. This minor figure had previously made small waves in the city a few months back with his sudden replacement of the previous Head of the organisation, done so with the help of the Truth Religion.
Clearly a few individuals had discovered his actions through whatever avenues available to them and hoped to take advantage of his connection to the Truth Religion to pressure him. However the snake like eyes of those 'in the know' individuals quickly shifted away moments later, after Official Kane continued.
"The first signs we had of this attack was a communication received yesterday evening from a representative of the Truth Religion, Cardinal South. He explained that the local group had gone rogue and the Truth Religion had deemed them Heretical, after which they provided us with information on their whereabouts, asking for us to secure them lest they cause damage..."
Official Kane then continued explaining the events of last night into this morning, including Redfire's containment of the Grade 6 Giant Shadow Wolf, the dispatch of Shuttle Dragonfly and witness accounts from Vin and Casmir who were simply labelled as 'Witness 4 and 5'.
Casmir meanwhile ignored Official Kane as he continued to describe events that Casmir was already aware of, instead he turned to Bluefire asking her about the communication they had received from 'Cardinal South'.
"What does that mean? Why would a rogue group try to capture a high Grade ferocious beast if they didn't have anyone backing them?" He quickly asked.
Bluefire meanwhile had her brows scrunched up like many other councillors as she tried to deconstruct the situation with this new information. However only she and a few others, not including Casmir, were aware that this was the second time the Truth religion had acted near Ellaris city and perhaps unintentionally, involved Casmir.
The first being their manipulation of Arthur Feniss whom arranged for Casmir to be attacked by a drugged Forest Boar during his Qi Studies tests, a few months ago.
Bluefire confirmed back then that Casmir was simply caught in the crossfires as they targeted Arthur Feniss and his father, the Head of Feniss Farming Initiative.
But now.. she was unsure.
"Calm down Casmir, chances are the Truth Religion was being cautious and deliberately sent that message in case their agents failed to capture the beast, so as to minimise any repercussions. That or perhaps there's internal conflict in the religion.. they are muddled up in a civil war with another country right now after all, it's a messy situation." She said calmly, not holding back her thoughts.
Unwittingly Bluefire's attitude towards Casmir had become unguarded, normally she perhaps wouldn't have explained her thoughts to Casmir so casually. Simply calling a civil war in which thousands would die with ease, a 'messy situation'.
After Casmir heard Bluefire's explanation he took a moment to understand her thought process, realising that he was thinking on a much smaller scale than her. He had believed these attackers were powerful but he didn't fully understand the complex politics between nations and whether such an attack was worth it in their eyes.
Over the next half an hour various pieces of information were revealed by Official Kane as Councillors began to ask more detailed questions. Including questions for Casmir and other witnesses that stood in their own private rooms, viewing the hearing.
Over the course of the hearing, Casmir asked Bluefire many questions about the incident but Bluefire could only offer suggestions to most of them because she wasn't privy to all of the information. That, and Bluefire was occupied by her thoughts of whether the Truth Religion was possibly targeting Casmir because they had somehow identified him or if this was all just a big coincidence.
Eventually the Hearing finished its line of questions and stepped into the next segment, discussion between the councillors on how to proceed and react to this situation.
Casmir was quite eager to listen to this part at first, wanting to know how the perpetrators would be punished, but to his disappointment that issue was quickly set aside by the councillors.
They quickly focused on how this event would effect 'them', their interests and of course how they could squeeze the Truth Religion for reparations to their city. The Heldan Republic government had already handed over such claims to the city, this was because the loses were not strictly military but from the Ellaris Guardship and thus the people of Ellaris city.
This was an odd way of handling politics but in the Heldan Republic, towns and especially larger cities were viewed as independent entities capable of governing themselves so long as they followed Republic law. A large city like Ellaris with its various higher level cultivators had the ability to press such claims on their own, of course the Republic would still back them in any negotiations that took place.
As soon as reparations became the point of focus for the council hearing, Casmir stepped away from the pedestal and sat down helplessly.
"Bunch of selfish snakes.." he mumbled under his breath.
In the council hall the majority of those seated on the raised area also fell silent, they shook their heads out of shame to be associated with some of these people, but they didn't stop them either. Even Speaker Blackfire simply let them argue with only occasional interruptions, although his keen eyes kept shifting back and forth silently judging those who spoke.
When Bluefire heard Casmir's mumbled curses she smiled almost sweetly, a rare chuckle escaping her lips.
"Hehe.. I hope you keep that attitude towards these kinds of people as you grow older Casmir.." She said gently, with a hint of anticipation.
"Many of these councillors are snakes that should be cleared out, but there's a reason they're still here. Although we don't like seeing such people, groping after the slightest thing that interests them, if they're not motivated they won't do their jobs."
Casmir wanted to immediately object to Bluefire's words but..
"I'm not defending them Casmir, I'm defending us. The way the Republic has designed it's governance is very open, it allows people like this to exist openly so long as they don't cross the line but it also gives people freedom and allows them to learn."
"If every councillor was forced to only say and do the 'right' things, putting aside who decides what the 'right' things are, you'd never know which councillors held knives at your throat or placed poison in your tea..."
"By openly allowing everyone to express their goals, it allows us to learn how people greed and lust after things they can't have, letting us see their characters and reflect on them to grow."
Bluefire's voice was very clear as she explained this to Casmir, it was obvious that she believed in this system but Casmir still held reservations towards it. He carefully watched as the councillors argued over the smallest of things, like a dysfunctional couple that fights over the smallest of mistakes.
He didn't fully understand Bluefire's view but he kept her words in mind, reflecting on the councillors actions and trying his best to understand why they did such things.